New Tea Party Movement Gaining Steam

On April 15, 2009, Americans across the nation gathered together to protest the growth of government and reckless economic policies being pursued by the Federal Government. At the time, advocates of limited government were invigorated by the nationwide show of support for their ideals. Carrying on this tradition, a new nationwide Tea Party is in the works for execution on July 4, 2009. That movement has been titled ‘ReTea Party’ and is centered on four main principles:

Support for fiscal responsibility and opposition to bailouts and excessive taxation

Respect for the integrity of the Constitution

Reducing the national debt

Defense of individual freedom

As I see it, the main problem of the Tax Day Tea Party was that as it grew, it began to be seen as nothing more than a conservative movement. Once it did so, and regardless of its merits, it became easily dismissed by those who are also very concerned about the loss of liberty and who oppose the direction our nation is heading, but may not naturally run with the “conservative” crowd. ReTea Party is not merely a Republican/Libertarian movement, but a movement belonging to all citizens who are appalled at at the ever-increasing excesses of government power, regardless of whether these excesses are enacted by Republicans or Democrats.

In general, libertarians believe that the origins of government lie in a voluntary agreement of individuals to abide by certain rules and to submit to enforcement of these rules. If government is a voluntary association with authority granted by its members, then it is impossible for the members to grant authority that they themselves do not have. For example, the people cannot grant the government authority to carry out redistributive taxation, as the people themselves do not have the authority to forcibly take money from someone to give to someone else.

In my view, the guiding principles of this new Tea Party movement echo those of the Declaration of Independence that all of humanity (not merely American citizens) are endowed with “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.